Welding Tips and Tricks

This is just my rant and no offense to anyone or anything should be taken or implied. Comments are good.

CWB - Canadian Welder Bureau
AWS - American Welding Association
LR - Loyd's Register
Three names when heard usually make one think about welding (At least it does for me). What I don't understand is I am qualified all position SMAW and FCAW for CWB but Loyd's doesn't except these so i now have to take their tests so I can weld on structure projects at work. I thought that CWB and the AWS had the highest rating for code standards in the world.
Thankfully me company is paying for the tests (hopefully in the next few weeks) so i can work on those projects, but it doesn't negate the fact that i still spent considerable time and money for something that one company doesn't recognize.

Does the AWS have the same rules regarding this?? Can I work in the states with my CWB Certifications or would I have to re-test?

Thanks for letting me vent
Terry

I think it depends on the site or company who is paying for the work to be done. Lots of job sites make you take an onsite test or several tests even if you already have documented certs. Insurance companies I think are behind some of this its one way they can show there muscle by making who ever they insure require something above and beyond just In case some major failure happens. Then again I've seen pictures of some scary looking welds made by "certified" welders who I'm pretty sure had someone else go into the booth on test day for them. Plus skills are perishable. If my certs expire and there only good for 6 months at a time. I have to retest to get them current. But I only need to take 1 test to get all of them back. So theoretically a person could start out leaving school with say 2 certs 1 for stick welding and 1 for tig. They may spend the next 30 years making tig welds and never touch a stick rod ever again but they will still be certified in stick welding. Retesting on site or job specific tests ensure people who are certified but may have no real experience are weeded out.

Hi, Terry,

Josh makes several good points.

I've only twice in my life gone to jobs where my current certifications got me in without an on-site test. Almost every job will have a test with their own WPS so you can prove you can do what they require.

I've never held an AWS cert; I'm presently ASME certified. I would not expect to go to a structural job and have my ASME recognized, though simply having it will help me get an interview and weld test.

Your certs only prove you knew how to pass those particular tests, and know how to weld that process. The employer will still want you to prove you can do it "his way".

And, as Josh mentioned, some certs require "maintenance". If I don't do a ASME code weld (that passes) within six months of my last one, I have to do a coupon to requalify, to show that my skills haven't degraded. I went through this recently.

Steve S

I wholehearted agree w/ Otto. Certs are really nothing more than a piece of paper that says (your name here) could place an acceptable weld on whatever the test is on that day. I have held AWS and ASME for many different contractors and had to test for each job if you were going to work for a different contractor. Any welder that brags he has never busted a test has either not taken many or is a liar. The one job I wanted in the worst way years ago is one I busted the test on.

Poland308 wrote: So theoretically a person could start out leaving school with say 2 certs 1 for stick welding and 1 for tig. They may spend the next 30 years making tig welds and never touch a stick rod ever again but they will still be certified in stick welding.

Not true. AWS and ASME both require you to weld with the process you qualified with at least once every 6 months or it is no good. In the example you gave this would mean he would no longer be qualified in SMAW. However, there are "custom" WPS' that might and could keep him qualified in both. It depends on where you are at and how the standard is written. What most don't know or understand is you can in fact have a totally custom standard you welded to that can say pretty mucheap anything.

To answer the question , generally speaking the CWB certifications are not recognized here in the USA. Once again, this depends on where you are at too. Like it was mentioned, you generally will have to take a test before a job anyway because being qualified to weld for Superior Welding & Fabrication does not qualify you to weld for ABC Welding. You specifically have to qualify to my procedure, even if the test is identical.

This is a deep subject for sure and I am not an expert. Just sharing what I know and have ran into.
Jonathan

Yeah your right Johnathan. I reviewed the section covering continuity. And my example of stick and tig was off a bit. But if a person has several certs in one type of proscess i.e. Tig then they only need to test out on one type of tig weld to stay current in all there other tig certs. Meaning they may not have tig welded SS in a long time but still be certified for it.

I have held a lot of certs over the years, and every job I went on where they cared about 'certified welders' required me to retest as a condition of being hired. They weren't even interested in seeing what current certs I held. So, I stopped going to the union hall and renewing my certs, and if anyone asked I showed them my expired certs (over 6 months), and they were happy with that. Like I say, otherwise they would test me before I even walked on the job.
Gary

I have to stay up to date because I have to regularly provide my continuity papers to diferent customers at there diferent sites. Some of the ammonia work I do for the coop's are for the same customer but they have to document for each individual location. Same for the chemical plants. Even then they occasionally still call in an independent CWI for a random test on site.

Poland308 wrote:I have to stay up to date because I have to regularly provide my continuity papers to diferent customers at there diferent sites. Some of the ammonia work I do for the coop's are for the same customer but they have to document for each individual location. Same for the chemical plants. Even then they occasionally still call in an independent CWI for a random test on site.

Thanks, Josh. You bring up a great point and something I had not thought of.
Gary

I suppose I've got it easy in that regard. I no longer contract, so my employer maintains my continuity. When I do a code vessel weld, it's automatically 100% x-ray if the weld is a vessel repair. (Ancillary support structure welded "to" the vessel can often be approved on a VT.) When I do piping that falls under the code it's automatically at least 10% x-ray, so I have NDE evidence for my continuity.

Steve S

Wow is all I can say other than Thanks for the feed back It sure has made me feel that the world isn't against me (so too speak) and that certification is just another form of your resume. Basic understanding of the simple things on life is sometimes the hardest of all.

Terry